UK Middlemen Paid £9.7m in Bribes to Saudis for Contracts
Two men funnelled bribes totalling millions of pounds to a Saudi prince and other high-ranking officials to secure lucrative commercial contracts, the opening day of a trial has heard. The Serious Fraud Office alleges that a total of £9.7m was paid to Prince Miteb bin Abdullah and a group of senior Saudi officials to land the contracts for a British subsidiary of the European aerospace group Airbus. Mark Heywood QC, for the prosecution, said British middlemen for years had regularly paid bribes to “highly placed” Saudis through offshore companies and Swiss bank accounts in what amounted to “deep corruption”. Jeffrey…